Preparations: The Mitchell Files 8
by Neuropsych
Summary: (COMPLETE) It's time to get Talonopolis up and running, and maybe discover more about the new base while they're at it! (rated for possible language, adult themes at times, and possible violence, because you never know)
1. 01

**Preparations: Mitchell Files 8**

_Author's Note: Seriously, guys, I just can't think of catchy titles. But at least it has one!_

OOOOOOOO

"They don't look much like coffee beans to me…."

Melony smiled, taking the wet berry from the Marine who had just plucked it and holding it up to the sun. Well, where the sun was – although it was covered by a gray haze. It was still raining on good old A-08, and it looked as if it had been since they'd left the last time. It certainly was wet enough to have been.

_Talonopolis_

Whatever.

_At least it's only a drizzling rain. As long as it doesn't get torrential, we'll be fine_

"It's not a bean yet, Sergeant. See the seed inside? _That's_ the part that we need. We dry that, and then roast it, and ta-da we have a coffee bean."

The Sergeant took the berry from her and nodded. Like the others who had volunteered to come help harvest the beans, he wasn't all that interested in where the coffee beans came from, as long as they made coffee once they were finished harvesting them.

"Yes, Ma'am."

She slapped his back and left him to it, standing for a moment while she watched the activities around her.

There were eight people here. Four were Marines from the security forces and the other four were scientists – one was a research scientist and the other three were from Carson Beckett's medical research team. At the moment, four were harvesting and four were being the guards – even though Melony and Kale hadn't seen any sign of anything dangerous during their initial trip, or on the next one. It never hurt to make sure, after all.

"You guys will be okay?" She asked the Lieutenant who was the ranking Marine in the detail.

He nodded, just glancing at her. He was guarding at the moment, and took it seriously enough that he was watching the bushes and the surrounding area instead of the people harvesting.

"We'll be fine."

"If I'm not back, don't keep them out after dark," Mitchell ordered. "Back to the Jumper for the night."

It was way too wet to try and set up a camp, so the Jumpers would make do as shelters during the night for those who were outside.

"Yes, Colonel."

She nodded, and looked at Carson Beckett, who had been standing near at hand, studying one of the berries. The doctor was wearing a waterproof coat – just like everyone else – and had a crutch close at hand – although he didn't need it, really. It was just in case he spent too much time on his still sore ankle and needed the extra support.

"You ready?"

He nodded, and the two of them headed for one of the Jumpers.

OOOOOO

Rodney McKay was a lot of things – and most of those things were annoying, but Mitchell had to admit that when it came to organizing, he was as good as they came. Even as she set the Jumper down in the ravine that held the opening to the lava tube that led to the lavabase – as everyone had taken to calling it – she could see that there was a steady light coming from the entrance. Which meant that he'd already managed to harness the thermal energies of the hot room and had strung lights already. Which was impressive since they'd only been there a few hours at the most.

_He's been planning it for a week_, Talon reminded her. _He probably had it all set up in his mind how he was going to do it_

True. But it's still impressive.

Talon agreed with that, especially once she and Carson started into the tube. They didn't need to carry flashlights to see where they were going, now, which made it safer. Especially for Beckett, who was limping despite his assurance that his ankle was fine.

"It's just the cold and damp," he'd told her. "It's getting into the muscles and seizing them. As soon as we get where it's warmer, it'll loosen up a bit."

Which was why he wasn't picking berries with the others, even though he'd planned to. She wanted him inside where it was warm.

_And you like having him close_

Since there was no hiding that from Talon, Melony hadn't even tried. She simply smiled, and watched Beckett as they walked up the slight incline of the lava tube, waiting to see if he stopped limping.

By the time they reached the main cavern – which looked even more impressive lit up than it had in the dark – Carson was limping harder, and Melony was about to tell him to go find someplace to sit down, when Rodney McKay walked up to them, smiling and looking about as smug as she'd ever seen him looking.

"Colonel Mitchell! What do you think?"

She looked around, where there were technicians swarming over her cavern, running lights and wires and lines of all sorts, looking more like ants on an Oreo than anything else, really.

"You've made a lot of progress, Doctor. I'm impressed."

The smug look increased tenfold, and McKay looked tried to look modest. And failed.

"We found where the water from the crack is draining to," he told her, gesturing for her to join him. "This was a problem we had to solve before we could run too many wires – since we don't want things to start blowing up on us because they're getting damp."

Mitchell looked up at the crack in the ceiling of the cavern – which should have been raining water down on them, and could have made the cavern completely useless to Melony for a research facility. Like McKay had said, she didn't want water dripping on things and causing them to explode as she was trying to figure out what made it tick. Especially since there was already the chance that it'd blow up, anyways.

He pointed to a very small crack at the base of the cavern floor – on the opposite side of the room from where they'd entered. Sure enough, the wall there was wet, and there was definitely a sound of running water.

"The wall seems to slant just enough that water coming from the crack up there flows only along this portion, where it then drains into this crack here."

"Where does it go from there?" Beckett asked.

McKay scowled.

"I don't know. I don't have anyone _small enough_ to go down and find out."

Melony smiled.

"We're still looking," McKay told her, "But it's not on the top of the priorities list. Now that we know it won't overload our circuits, we'll be able to keep stringing wires."

"You're doing great, Doctor McKay."

McKay frowned.

"You know… you _could_ call me _Rodney_. You call the good Doctor here _Carson_…"

Melony smiled, "I'm _sleeping_ with Carson. I'd feel stupid calling him Doctor Beckett."

She saw John Sheppard entering the cavern and walked over to see what he'd found, leaving McKay staring at Carson, who was blushing brilliantly in the soft glow of the lights that were illuminating the cavern.


	2. 02

Sheppard looked over when he saw Mitchell heading his way, and then frowned when he looked over her shoulder at McKay and Beckett.

"What's with them?" He asked when she was close enough to hear.

Melony smiled.

"Shock factor. What did you find?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing yet. I thought I'd come see if you wanted to come with us?"

Mitchell nodded.

"Let's go."

OOOOOO

"You're _sleeping_ with her?"

Carson was blushing so red; now, they could have hooked wires up to _him_ to generate thermal power. He hadn't expected her to blurt it out like that. Really, he hadn't expected her to even really mention it to anyone. Which he should have known better. She was pretty much as open about things as she could be – maybe it had something to do with Talon, or maybe it was just her nature.

He nodded.

"You lucky bastard!"

McKay looked over at Mitchell, who was talking to Sheppard. Man… and he'd thought he was doing pretty good to have been on the planet with the Light Ones… well, yeah, he _had_ been doing pretty good to be on that planet, because that had been pure bliss, but _Mitchell_… well… that was another thing, entirely.

Carson nodded, again. He _was_ lucky, and he knew it. Although that love definitely had its price, because the more he thought about what she was getting ready to do, the more scared for her he became.

"She's going to get killed…" Carson said softly, his gaze following McKay's, and he watched as Melony and Sheppard disappeared down the lava tube that had the crack across the floor of it. The one he'd fallen into and hurt his ankle in.

"She's just checking out a tube with Major Sheppard," McKay said, wondering what had Beckett so worried. "They _know_ the crack's there, now, so they-"

"Not in the _lava tube_, Rodney," Carson said, shaking his head. "Doing this Wraith thing… her need for revenge is going to get her killed."

McKay looked at him, and realized that maybe it wasn't such a great thing to like someone in Mitchell's line of business, after all. It might even be _love_, the way he was watching her. He tried to think of something to say that would ease his concern, and scoffed.

"With _Talon_? She's not going to get killed, Carson. He won't allow it."

"_He's_ worse than she is…"

McKay scowled.

"She's not going off half-cocked. It's obvious she's planning-"

"It's the _Wraith_."

"They're not gods." McKay argued. "For that matter, she's taken out _gods_, before – remember? The Goa'uld thought they were indestructible, too, and look where _that_ got them. I wouldn't worry too much about her. She's going to be fine."

He tried to be comforted. He knew that McKay was trying to be helpful, but Carson didn't know any Goa'uld, and hadn't seen them at their worst. He knew what the Wraith were capable of doing – and maybe they were capable of even worse things. Who knew? All he knew was that there were a lot more of them than there was Melony, and he was afraid for her.

"Besides," McKay said, slapping him on the back. "This time she and Talon have _me_ to help them. How could they possibly fail with _that_ kind of help? Now come help me decide where to string this last set of cables."

OOOOOOOOO

"They haven't strung any wires or cables down this tunnel yet," Sheppard said, pulling out his flashlight and waiting for Mitchell to do the same. "We don't want anyone down here until we know for sure where it goes."

"Good idea," Melony agreed. "Have you explored past the crack?"

He shook his head.

"I had them build a wooden planking over it, though, so we can get past without falling in – as long as you're careful."

Which explained to her what he'd been doing with his time. And it was a good idea. For safety reasons, if nothing else.

_Not to mention you're too lazy to crawl into the hole and out the other side?_

That, too.

They reached the turn in the tube that was right before the crack, but Melony could hear a soft murmur of voices and see bobbing lights in plenty of time to warn her it was coming. Sure enough, a moment later they came up to the rest of Sheppard's security force – the few that he'd decided to bring from Atlantis, leaving the rest under Ford's command on base.

Mitchell shined her light onto the crack and saw that there was, indeed, a solid wooden bridge going across the span of it. It would still be _possible_ for someone to fall into the hole, but they'd have to really not be paying attention, now, and anyone that dumb deserved to take a fall.

The one Marine and two Air Force enlisted men all quieted when Mitchell and Sheppard approached, and they waited to see what their next orders would be. Since it was her base, and she outranked him, Sheppard motioned for Mitchell to decide. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't already know what she was going to say.

"Shall we see where this thing goes?"

Yup, that's what he'd expected to hear.

Sheppard nodded, as did the all the others. They hadn't really wanted to go down the tunnel alone – Sheppard had said something about Lava Lizards or something like that, and they hadn't been _completely_ sure if he was joking or not – but with Mitchell and the Major both with them, well, what could go wrong?

Melony had them all double check their lights, made sure everyone had backups with them, and their weapons – just in case – and she headed across the planking that made the makeshift bridge.

"Maybe we'll find us some of them Lava Lizards, Major…" she said, unable to help herself.

"Wouldn't _that_ be a hoot?"

Sheppard crossed the bridge, shining his light in front of him so he could double check where his feet were going, and after only a moment's hesitation, the rest of the group followed. One at a time, since they weren't sure exactly how many people the bridge would support at one time.


	3. 03

"Well… _this_ is a problem…"

Mitchell couldn't help but nod her agreement.

She and Sheppard and the security team had walked for maybe a mile in the tunnel, the ground steadily going downward, although not at such a drastic pace that they were concerned enough to go back for ropes. They had plenty of light, after all, and were walking carefully – especially around turns – and they weren't worried about a misstep.

It had been soon after the last turn in the tube – and they were almost certain they were heading back towards the main cavern – although they couldn't be positive – when they started to hear the unmistakable sound of water. Not a trickle of water, either. It sounded a lot more forceful than that, even to them – and none of them claimed to be experts or anything. Sure enough, less than a half hour later, they came to an intersection in the tunnel – and what could only be called a river. An underground river nearly twenty feet across, completely blocking their path.

It was going across their tunnel, coming along another tube entirely, and the floor of that one had been worn down – presumably by the water – because they could see their tunnel continuing beyond it over the water. But they didn't know how deep the water was, and it was going way too swiftly to risk trying to cross – at least without ropes.

"Well, shit…"

"What do you want to do, Colonel?"

"We _could_ toss Peterson over and see if anything comes out of the water to grab him."

The Airman in question was relatively positive she was joking, but he gave her a sideling glance anyways. After all, Mitchell was an unknown factor at times – no one ever knew exactly what she was thinking, and it there were all sorts of stories going around the ranks telling of her ruthless dealings with the Goa'uld.

She winked at him, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief, because now he was positive she was kidding.

"How deep do you figure it is?" Sheppard asked, walking over and squatting down at the edge of the torrent. It was moving fast, but he wasn't even being sprayed by any stray water, which told Mitchell that the edge of the tunnel the water was in was smooth. Otherwise it would be tumbling and frothing. At least that was what Talon was telling her. And it made sense.

Melony shrugged, and kneeled down beside him, putting her hand in the water. It was pretty cold, which told her that it wasn't coming from anyplace near a thermal area. Way too cold to be goofing around in, that was for sure.

"Rainwater runoff?"

It was John's turn to shrug.

"Is it cold?"

"Yeah."

"I wonder if it's safe to drink?" Peterson said.

Sheppard looked up at him.

"I'd stick to the canteens for now…"

"Think it's here all the time, or just when it rains?"

Again there were shrugs.

"Why don't we head back and get ropes and a pole of some sort?" Mitchell said. "I'd like to see what's on the other side, but I'm not going to risk someone getting swept away." Although she'd love to know where it _went_, too.

"This place just gets more and more complicated as we keep looking through it, doesn't it?" Sheppard said as they all started back.

Melony nodded.

"Better to find these kind of things now, though, than when someone's chasing you."

_Of course, since it's supposed to be a secret base, we'll assume there won't be anyone chasing you_

She smiled.

Let's hope not.

"Better to not have anyone chasing you, period." John told her, not realizing that he was echoing Talon's comment.

"True."

Of course, there might always be a tactical advantage to having her own private river… who knew?

OOOOOOOOOO

By the time they made their way back to the main cavern, however, it was getting late. They'd been walking a fair amount, and walking in the dark, even with plenty of flashlights to light the way, can be nerve-wracking to some people, so during the last part of the walk back – as they were crossing the make-shift bridge – Mitchell and Sheppard decided they weren't going to rush back immediately with their security team. Better to give them a chance to grab a bite to eat and take a break – especially since the way back had been more uphill than the way there had been. The water wasn't going anywhere (so to speak) it'd still be there when they returned. And if it wasn't… well that was even better.

They turned off their flashlights as they entered the cavern, which by now was brightly lit, and Sheppard dismissed the team and walked with Mitchell over to where Beckett was standing on a small ladder, holding a wire while a technician drilled a hole for an eye hook to hold it up.

"Are you _supposed_ to be on ladders?" Melony asked him, looking up.

"It's a solid one," he told her, smiling down at her. "And most of my weight is on the other leg."

She nodded, and reached up to touch his leg, running her hand along his calf in a warm gesture of hello, then turned to the technician.

"Where's McKay?"

"He went with a group out to the Jumper," the woman told her, not looking down from the hole she was drilling. "They just left, so you might be able to catch up with him."

Mitchell nodded, and thanked her, then looked at Sheppard.

"I'm going to go see if he knows anything about underground rivers in lava flows. Want to come?"

"Sounds _exciting_."

Ah, nothing wrong with a little sarcasm.

She gave Carson's leg a light squeeze, and then she and Sheppard headed for the main lava tube at a half-trot, taking advantage of being able to see where they were going with the lights strung up and illuminating their way.


	4. 04

Apparently the technician drilling holes knew more about drilling holes than she did about telling time, because they didn't catch up to McKay and his group in the lava tube. When they came out into the drizzly rain that was still coming down, they found him in the Jumper, supervising the offloading of several crates of far more delicate equipment – diagnostic stuff for the most part, extra components, things like that.

But there was also a metallurgical tester that Rodney himself had brought, because he wanted to see why the walls of the lava flow were impervious to the sensors of the Jumpers – and hopefully anything the Wraith might have as well. Melony would be doing tests on it also – presuming she managed to get hold of a Wraith dart – and if it turned out that even the Wraith technology couldn't scan through the stuff, then it was definitely worth figuring out why.

They went up the ramp just as the final crate on anti-grav sleds were being offloaded, and almost ran into McKay, who about jumped out of his skin.

"I thought you two were checking out the lava tubes?"

Mitchell nodded, "We were."

"What do you know about underground rivers?" Sheppard asked.

"I know they're _water_… running underground."

Melony smiled at the annoyed look on Sheppard's face, but really, he should have expected an answer like that – _she_ had.

"Cute."

Rodney couldn't help but look smug – he loved every chance he got to annoy Sheppard and the other military people, which included Mitchell – although he didn't do _that_ very often out of pure self preservation.

"Did you find an underground river?" He asked.

Mitchell nodded.

"Yes."

"Did you test the water? Is it hot?"

"No, it was cold."

"It's probably rainwater runoff, then. Maybe even fed by that little crack in the main chamber. Was it moving fast?"

Mitchell shrugged.

"We didn't really test it, because we didn't have any safety ropes or anything, but it wasn't a raging torrent or anything."

"Then we probably couldn't use it to power the electrical systems – not only are we not sure if it's a continuous source of energy, but it's not as efficient as the thermal energy is."

"It's quite a ways down the tunnel, too," Melony added. "We'd be stringing wires for the next couple of weeks."

He looked at her.

"Of course, if it's _good_ water, you can always use it for drinking water – or showers or bathing. It's not like you don't have a large supply of warmth to heat the water with."

She wasn't so sure she wanted to run pipes any more than she wanted to run wires, but she supposed it was something worth looking into – further down the line, maybe.

"True."

"Are you going back to it?"

"As soon as we get some proper equipment, and maybe a bite to eat. Want to come?"

"How far down the tunnel is it?"

She shrugged.

"A mile or so…?" She looked at Sheppard, who nodded his agreement.

"Probably more."

McKay made a face that told them what his answer would be long before he actually spoke.

"I think I'll pass. I should probably stay close – in case someone needs me."

He was probably right, she knew.

Sheppard knew it, too, but he couldn't help but smile. McKay was never one to volunteer for extra exercise if he could avoid it.

"We might need you there," John told him. "You know… to test the water or something."

Rodney scowled, "Just make sure you wait half an hour before going in if you're going to have something to eat first."

Melony snickered, and slapped the Major on the shoulder.

"We'd better get going."

He nodded, and Mitchell turned to McKay.

"You need anything before I go?"

Rodney shook his head; he and Melony had discussed everything thoroughly, and he knew what she wanted and needed and he could do most of it without her help. Besides, he liked supervising things like this.

"Bring me back a surprise."

"We'll bring you back a lava lizard skin," Sheppard told him.

"You do that."

They stopped just long enough to grab up a couple of fifty foot ropes and some strap harnesses, and then left the Jumper and headed back for the lava tube, passing the scientists with their crates, and loaded down with their own equipment.

OOOOOOOO

When they made it back to the main cavern, Carson was waiting for them, standing against the entrance of the tube they emerged from, and holding a couple of sandwiches wrapped in plastic that they'd brought from Atlantis.

"You found a river?"

Melony nodded and took one of the sandwiches from him, while Sheppard took the other.

"It's nothing too big," she told him, walking over to an unoccupied corner and sliding down to sit on an empty crate that had been turned upside down for just that purpose. "About fifteen or twenty feet across."

John came over and sat down beside her, glad for a chance to sit down for a little while – even though he wasn't as loathe to exercise as McKay was, he'd been on his feet most of the day.

"And you're going to go try and cross it?"

Beckett sounded worried, but Melony couldn't understand why. This time they were taking ropes and harnesses. It wasn't dangerous.

"We want to see what's on the other side," she told him, nodding. "Where the tube goes."

"And we want to see how deep the water is," Sheppard added, taking a huge bite of his sandwich.

"Can I come?"

Melony shook her head.

"Not with your ankle. It's a lot of walking, and it's uphill on the way back."

He frowned, but had to concede that she was probably right. His ankle was well on its way to being healed, but if he walked that far he'd probably do it more harm than good. He just wanted to spend a little time with her – even though she'd warned him that once they were here she wouldn't have lots of time for him.

As if she understood, Melony rested her hand lightly on his thigh and smiled.

"We'll bring you back a surprise," she told him.

He smiled, and sat with them while they ate, not trying to make conversation or anything, but enjoying Melony's company while he could, and listening to Sheppard as the Major told him all about the lava lizards that supposedly inhabited lava flows exactly like this one.


	5. 05

It was close to evening by the time they were ready to head out, but since they were inside it didn't matter that the sky was starting to darken outside. The others were rested and had had a chance to grab a bite to eat, too, so they were ready for another walk. Sheppard handed the ropes over to the others to carry – rank hath its privileges and all that – and Mitchell handed him a telescoping pole that they would use to see how deep the water was. It was about ten feet long now, and could extend to 30 – anything deeper than that and they were screwed – but she didn't think the water would be that deep, and Sheppard agreed. Although of course, neither of them knew for certain.

Carson walked with them as far as the entrance to the lava tube and a little beyond, and Melony hung back for just a minute. He looked worried, and she didn't like that.

"You'll be careful, right?" He asked softly, so Sheppard and the others – who were already ten or twenty feet ahead and disappearing into the darkness – couldn't hear him.

She nodded, and took his hand, giving him one of her best smiles.

"We'll be fine. It's not that dangerous, Carson. The water isn't fast, and I'll make sure we're harnessed in before we try anything."

"Don't forget about the possibility of hypothermia…"

She'd told him – or maybe John had, she couldn't remember – that the water was pretty cold, and leave it to a doctor to nag. Especially a doctor who was also your lover.

"I won't. We'll be fine."

_Should have left him on Atlantis…_

I promised him he could come.

Talon wasn't as annoyed as he was trying to sound, though, and Mitchell knew it. She could feel the symbiote was pleased that Beckett was as worried about her health as he was.

He hesitated, but Melony couldn't stay much longer. She didn't want to let the others get too far ahead of her – running in a dark tube to catch up wasn't a good idea. Using the hand she already had hold of, she pulled him closer and kissed him lightly.

"I'll be fine. Okay?"

He sighed, and touched her cheek – a gentle touch that made Melony smile.

"Okay."

She let go of him, then, and turned and headed down the tunnel, following the sounds of Sheppard and the others – who had already reached the plank bridge and were crossing the crack in the floor that had almost broken Carson's ankle.

OOOOOOOOO

"So how do you want to do this?"

They were standing once more on the edge of the underground river, shining their lights both at the water, and along the corridor beyond.

Mitchell reached for the pole Sheppard had been carrying.

"Let's see how deep it is, first. Maybe we can just wade across."

_Fat chance_

I know.

But they might as well hope.

She brought the pole to the twenty-foot length, and stuck it into the water – using that to not only gauge how deep it was, but to also judge how fast the current was going under the surface. The end of the pole hit the bottom of the tube sooner than she'd expected – at around 8 feet – and it didn't seem to be all that fast. At least it didn't try to tear the pole out of her hands.

"Too deep to walk across, but it's not as bad as it could have been," She told the others as she pulled the pole out of the water and they measured it with a tape measure. Seven and a half feet. And fifteen or maybe twenty feet across.

Sheppard looked over at her.

"I'm a good swimmer."

"So am I. And it's my secret base, so it's my risk. Besides, if there's any lava lizards – or something else in the water – I'd like you to take care of it before it gets too close to me."

_The current is probably too fast for something to be living in it_

Let's hope, because I really didn't plan on becoming fish food.

Sheppard nodded, and pulled his pistol, while Mitchell pulled off her holster and belt and started stripping down. The tunnels were warm, but she didn't like the thought of walking around in a soaking wet uniform if she didn't have to and she wasn't modest enough to care who saw her in her underwear. (It wasn't like they hadn't seen her it when they'd been swimming on Atlantis, after all).

When she was undressed, she strapped a harness on, made certain it was secure and then double-knotted one of the 50-foot ropes to the buckle. It wouldn't be comfortable to swim in, but as Talon pointed out, it'd be a lot more comfortable than being swept away down the tunnel that they couldn't see – and who knew where that emptied out at?

"Ready?" Sheppard asked, handing the end of the rope to the others, and shining his powerful flashlight on Peterson, who was going to be the anchor and was tying the rope around his waist to make sure that even if the others somehow let go, they still wouldn't lose Mitchell.

She nodded, and walked to the edge of the water, looking down at it.

Brrrr.

_Baby_

Yeah, yeah.

With a sigh, Mitchell jumped into the water, while the others held the rope and shined their lights on her and the water around her, and Sheppard watched for any movement in the water besides what she was making.

"Gah…"

"You okay?"

"It's freezing."

He smiled. It wasn't like there was anything he could do about that.

"See any lava lizards?"

"No." She was still for a moment, treading water and testing the current before going out into the worst of it. "Do you?"

"Not yet."

Well, that was good. No lizards, and as far as she could tell, nothing else, either. And the water was clean – at least the bit she'd tasted when her head had gone under on her initial jump into it.

She still wasn't planning on laying pipes, though.

_Are you planning on swimming?_

I was hoping to wait until I regained some feeling in my legs and arms.

_Try_ moving_, Hot Shot. It'll help, I promise_

She sighed, and started across, swimming at an angle so she was actually swimming upstream, so to speak – although the current was drawing her back at a rate that was directing her almost straight across.

It was easier than she'd expected, though, and she was soon scrambling out of the water on the other side.

"How was the swim?" Sheppard called. It wasn't too far away, so he didn't have to shout or anything, but he did have to raise his voice a bit.

"Invigorating," she lied. "Toss me some clothes, will you?"

He smiled, and put his gun away, then put her Beretta and holster in her pack, wrapped her clothes around that, and tied it off with a strap and then chucked it over the river at her. Mitchell didn't bother to catch it; she just moved aside and let it fall.

"Your turn, Major," she told him.

They had discussed this on the way. If Mitchell made it across – and she had – and felt that it was safe for another person to go over as well – and she did – then Sheppard would join her on the other side, and the two of them would resume the trip down the tube, to see if they could find where it emerged or ended. The last thing Melony wanted was a back door that she didn't know about where anyone could come sneaking up on her.

Sheppard scowled, but started stripping as well, complaining the entire time, much to everyone's amusement. Once he was down to his boxers, he repeated the whole put the gun in the pack and wrap it in clothes, and tossed it over to Mitchell. Then he harnessed up and hesitated at the edge of the water, while the others readied themselves to hold him while he swam.

"Don't be such a baby," Melony told him.

"It looks cold."

"It is. But it's not so bad once you can't feel your extremities."

Like _that_ was supposed to make him fee any better? Still grumbling, he jumped into the water.


	6. 06

"You know, I'm not really one to complain, but I'm pretty sure you _didn't_ mention a midnight swim in a river of ice when I agreed to come with you on this little jaunt."

Mitchell shrugged as she started putting her shirt on. She was still damp and shivering, but at least her clothes were dry.

"I didn't want to spoil the _surprise_."

He snorted, and started dressing, too, as Mitchell turned to flash her light at the guys on the other side of the river.

"We're going to leave the harnesses here," she called over to them. "We'll be back in an hour, stay close – and _don't_ lose those ropes."

They still had the harness – with ropes attached – on their side of the river, and the Marines and Peterson had the other ends on their side.

"Yes, Ma'am."

She waited for Sheppard to finish dressing and then the two of them headed down the tunnel, both of them shining their flashlights ahead of them and walking more carefully now that they didn't know exactly what to expect.

"You didn't mention a walk in the dark, either…"

"Yes, I did."

Yeah, maybe she _had_, at that.

Melony shined her light upwards – the good thing about the tubes was that they seemed to stay fairly consistent with their size. None that they'd been in ever shrank smaller and smaller as they went along, and none of them had ended abruptly in a dead end – although they hadn't been able to explore beyond the hot room, because it was way too… well, _hot_… to go beyond.

"You're not afraid of the dark are you?" She asked Sheppard, shining her light over at him.

"You're asking me this _now_?"

She grinned, and looked down at her watch.

"We'll walk down the tunnel for half an hour, and then head back." That way they'd be able to return in an hour, like they'd said they would.

Sheppard nodded.

"Unless of course we get eaten by something."

"At least we're clean after the swim."

"Funny."

She grinned and they walked.

OOOOOOOOO

"Okay… _this_ could be a problem…"

The two of them had gone another 20 minutes – mostly in silence – and were just talking about heading back in another 5 minutes or so, when they caught a whiff of something out of the ordinary. When you're walking in the dark, all your other senses come into play even stronger than usual and their sense of smell was no exception. Mitchell smelled it first, but Sheppard wasn't far behind her.

"What is that?" He asked, frowning.

"No…" she shined her light on the ground about ten feet ahead of them. "What is _that_?"

Ahead of them was a pile of…

"Um… it looks like…"

"Dung?"

He nodded. By then they were both right on the stuff, and they knelt down and shined both lights on it. It was a fairly big pile of what looked like dung – or might have been mud, or something else, but smelled just stinky enough that they both thought their first guess of shit was the right one.

Pulling the first aid kit from her pack, Mitchell put on a pair of rubber gloves and reached out and touched it. It was soft and warm, and lumpy.

"Yuck."

She nodded her agreement, but pulled a piece of the pile away and shined her light on it to get a better look. It was the first evidence of any large creature that she'd found on the planet – in the tunnels or out – and she figured she'd find out what it ate by checking out what was in its dung.

"Does that look like the dung of a meat eater or a grass eater…?"

"I hope it's a grass eater…" Sheppard said, suddenly feeling nervous enough to rest his hand on the butt of his gun.

"I don't see any grass in it."

"It's green though. Cow pies are green, right?"

She shrugged. Just because she was from Wisconsin, it didn't make her an expert on cows.

"Beats me… I think so, though."

"So maybe it's an herbivore."

"Or maybe it ate a little green man last…"

"Pleasant thought."

"As long as it sticks to green ones, we're okay."

"It feels a little cooler," John said, realizing that the air in the tunnel – which had been fairly decent – was now chilly, and there seemed to be more motion in the air, like maybe a slight breeze. "Think we're getting close to an opening?"

"It's possible." Hell, _anything_ was possible, right? Maybe they should go back and wait until daylight. It was entirely possible that they were close to another bolthole and didn't notice because of the late hour outside.

"Why don't we-"

A sudden rustling made her cut short whatever she'd been planning on saying, and the two of them froze, both of them turning off their flashlights, since they knew immediately that if something was in the tunnel with them the light would draw them quicker than anything else.

The rustling grew a little louder, and Melony could feel her heart starting to pound in anticipation and worry. Her hand slid to her Beretta, and she drew it from the holster silently. She could hear Sheppard's breathing next to her – right next to her, since he'd moved closer to her so they wouldn't be separated in the dark – and heard the telltale sounds of him pulling his own side arm from its holster.

There was suddenly a deep rumble from somewhere ahead of them. A very deep sound that reminded Mitchell of a lion, or maybe a tiger.

_Lots of things rumble like that_, Talon told her, trying to sound reassuring. _Don't panic_

I'm not panicked, she told him. It was true, she wasn't. She was just a bit nervous. A _lot_ nervous.

"Earthquake?" Sheppard whispered so softly that Melony almost didn't hear him.

She reached down and touched the ground. She still heard the rumbling but the earth wasn't moving under them or around them.

"No…" She answered just as quietly. It wasn't quiet enough, though. The rumble ceased, and then started again, this time with a curious tone to it, and it grew louder. And so did the rustling noise. They both felt something looming in front of them, and Melony couldn't help herself – she snapped on her flashlight. If she was going to get eaten, she was at least going to see what it was.

They both yelped.


	7. 07

"What is _that_?"

The creature in question was huge. Easily the size of a small elephant – maybe even a big elephant – with dark hair or fur or whatever it was that was covering its massive body and it looked like a cross between a cow and a bear. It had long ears, that swung towards them when Sheppard spoke up, and big brown eyes that squinted slightly when the light from their flashlights shined on it. It took a step towards them, and Mitchell could see that its feet were cloven, which increased the bovine aspect of the creature. Coming down from somewhere near the creature's ears were two odd-looking saggy things that almost looked like black velvety water balloons.

Both of them took a step back.

_It's a Mok_

"What's a Mok?"

Sheppard looked over at her.

"What?"

"Talon says it's a Mok."

"What's that?"

She gestured at the thing in front of them, which hadn't moved and was still watching them, almost curiously, as it rumbled deep in its chest or belly…

_It won't hurt you_, Talon told her. She could actually feel a surge of excitement from her symbiote. _They're incredibly rare, and long thought to be extinct_

"He says they're rare."

"And _dangerous_?"

"He says not."

"Is he _sure_?"

_Are_ you sure?

_Yes_. Talon's 'voice' was almost cheerful. _Go up and touch it_

"What? Are you out of your mind?"

Sheppard looked over at her, aware that he was only hearing half a conversation.

"What did he say?"

"He wants me to touch it."

"Is he nuts?"

"I-"

_It's not going to hurt you, Hot Shot. Go touch it_

"Why?"

"_Don't_ touch it, Colonel," Sheppard said. The gun in his hand had lowered so it wasn't pointing at the creature – which was still simply looking at them and watching them. "It'll probably take your hand off."

"I'm not going to."

_Just do it,_ Talon told her. _I promise you, it won't hurt you_

She scowled.

_If it does, I'll heal you_

Well, _that's_ reassuring…

_Trust me_

Mitchell sighed, and Sheppard looked over at her for a brief moment before turning his attention back on the creature.

"_Colonel_…"

"Talon says it's not dangerous."

"He said there weren't any Wraith, either," John pointed out.

_Touché_

Mitchell's gun went into its holster, and she took a small step forward, her hand held out in front of her like someone did when they were approaching an animal they didn't know.

"Don't scare it…"

She turned and scowled at Sheppard.

"_Me_ scare _it_?"

"Sorry."

She turned back to the creature.

Are you positive?

_Yes_

Another step and then another, and she was only a few feet from it. The Mok watched her intently, its big eyes calm and its body still and not even tense. Which didn't matter. Melony was tense enough for both of them.

"Don't go near its mouth…" Sheppard told her.

The thing was mostly mouth, though, from this angle. At least it _looked_ all mouth – of course that could have had something to do with how nervous she was.

_He's right; touch its shoulder or neck_

Bah.

She took another couple of small steps, and reached past the Mok's face, and her fingertips touched the creature's neck, right behind the water balloon things. Its fur was warm and softer than anything she'd ever felt before, and thick. The Mok rumbled again, and turned its head to look at her hand, and Mitchell had to resist the urge to jerk it back, afraid she'd startle it into eating her.

_Easy_

"Easy, Colonel…"

Great. That was what she needed; double the advice. She started to say something when the creature's rumbling deepened into a steady noise at her touch, and she frowned.

"Is that thing _purring_?" Sheppard asked, before Melony had a chance to.

_Hah! I knew it!_

Talon was practically crowing with excitement, and Melony was wondering if he was going to jump out her nose and try to touch the thing himself.

A little emboldened by the fact that she still had all her fingers – not to mention her arm – Mitchell increased the pressure of her touch, burying her fingers into the thick fur. It was incredibly soft. And the purring grew louder and deeper.

Sheppard shined his flashlight from Mitchell to the creature and back again.

"So… what's this thing called?"

_A Mok_, Talon supplied.

"A Mok."

"What is it?"

Talon?

_It's an omnivore that used to be one of the most common creatures in the universe – until they were hunted to extinction_

Mitchell repeated what he told her.

"Apparently not to _extinction_…" Sheppard said.

"Wait a minute… _omnivore_?" Mitchell scowled at the creature she was touching. "It eats meat?"

_Sometimes_

She moved her hand, but the Mok moved closer to her, not at all ready to give up the attention it was getting.

"So what does it eat?" Sheppard asked, moving a little closer himself. Sometimes you just can't resist touching soft fuzzy things – even ones that looked big enough to eat you in a gulp.

_Grass. Berries. Bugs. You were close when you were thinking of bears, Hot Shot. They eat pretty much the same things a bear will_

"Bears eat people…" Sheppard said once Melony had passed on that information.

"They don't, either. They just maul and kill them and leave them bleeding or shredded."

"Well, that's _much_ better, isn't it?"

"Just touch it, Major… it's kind of nice…"

"If it eats me, I'm _not_ going to be happy…"

"If it eats you, I'll apologize."

Sheppard scowled, but placed his hand beside Mitchell's, touching the soft fur and unable to help the smile when the purring increased at the touch.


	8. 08

Even as the Mok continued to purr, Mitchell turned to Sheppard, pulling her hand away from the soft fur.

"We'd better start heading back, Major. I want to come back here, though, when it's daylight outside. This thing has to be able to go outside, so this tunnel must lead out – and we're not going to check it in the night time."

In the light from her flashlight she could see him nod, and he pulled his hand away as well, giving the Mok a final pat. It made a disappointed sound, but didn't move closer like it had the first time. Instead there was another rumble from further back in the tunnel, and the creature turned its head to look behind it.

"Another one coming?"

_They're social animals_, Talon told her, still sounding as excited as if he'd discovered America. _There could be an entire flock of them_

Flock?

_Whatever you call a group of them_

Mitchell relayed what Talon said as she and Sheppard gave the creature another look, and then turned and headed back, watching over their shoulders to make sure it wasn't going to follow them. Which was the last thing they needed.

"So they're extinct everywhere else?" Sheppard asked.

"Talon says they are. Probably hunted for their fur, since it's the softest thing I've ever felt."

It wouldn't be the first time a creature was hunted out for its pelt, after all.

"As friendly as it is, it probably wouldn't have taken much."

She nodded her agreement.

"I imagine. It didn't _look_ like a creature that lives in tunnels all its life, though, so chances are I won't be finding Mok fur in my blankets."

"Or Mok crap on the bottom of your shoes."

"Even better."

"What makes me wonder, though, is how you and Kale missed them in your flybys."

She shrugged.

"We didn't check out the entire planet," Melony admitted. "Once I found the lava tubes, I mainly focused on them. I figured we'd do a more thorough survey once I had a Jumper here, since there was no way I was going to ask Kale to fly around the entire planet."

"Maybe we should do that tomorrow?"

"Once we see where the Mok tunnel leads out at," she said. "We'll put up a marker that we can spot from the Jumper, so we won't have to search for it."

"Good plan."

She smiled, "I get them occasionally."

They talked of their plans for the rest of the walk – which was a bit faster than the trip down had been, since they now knew there weren't any major obstacles in their path that could possibly injure them, and they could walk with more confidence – and were soon back at the river.

"What did you find?" One of the Marines asked as Melony and John started undressing for their swim.

"You'll never believe it," Sheppard called, stuffing his clothes and firearm into his pack and chucking it over to the others, who caught it easily, and a moment later caught Mitchell's when she repeated the process.

The men picked up the end of the first rope, and Sheppard gestured for Melony to go first. Going back was a lot easier than the swim across, because really, the men just pulled her across, and all she really had to do was hang on.

"Should have brought a towel," she said as she scrambled out of the water and started unbuckling the harness, shivering, while the men picked up Sheppard's rope to haul him across as well.

"If we'd been thinking, we could have gone back for one while you were gone," Peterson said as Sheppard jumped into the water with an audible gasp. It was just as cold as it had been the first time.

"I'd have been sorely upset if something had chased me and the Major back up the tunnel only to find the three of you gone," Mitchell said, drying herself off with her shirt as well as she could before putting it on.

"Yes, Ma'am."

None of them wanted to upset her.

_You're such a bully_

I am not. I just want to remind them that there's a reason for the orders they're given, and that they're expected to be followed.

He mumbled something about military dictators, but Melony ignored him – although she was smiling slightly as the men pulled Sheppard from the water, looking like a drowned rat.

"Pleasant swim?"

"It's one way to wake up, I suppose."

She waited for him to unbuckle the harness, then handed him his pants.

"Come on, Major. I'll buy you a cup of coffee before bed."

OOOOOOOOO

"Amok?"

Mitchell shook her head.

"_A_ Mok. Two words. One Mok."

"What's that?"

"A fuzzy black cow with water balloons hanging off its neck," Sheppard said.

They had returned to the main cavern to find it mostly deserted. McKay had sent everyone off to get some sleep for the night – they were, for the most part, sleeping in the tunnel that led to the ravine. There were a couple of guards on the Jumpers, just in case something unexpected happened, and a few people sleeping on them as well, but for the most part it was blankets on the hard floor.

The only people left in the cavern when they returned were Carson and McKay, who were sitting and drinking coffee while they waited for Mitchell's group to return, and a pair of Marines who were on standby in case Mitchell's team had found something dangerous and had needed backup.

Melony had sent all of them off to get some sleep, and she and John had joined the other two on the crates in the corner where they'd eaten their sandwiches earlier that evening. There they told them what they'd found once they'd crossed the river, and what they planned on doing the next day.

"A cow?"

Mitchell shrugged.

"It kind of looks like a cow – although Talon says they eat meat, too – he compared it to a bear."

"And you _touched_ it?" McKay asked, shaking his head. "Are you nuts?"

"It purred." Sheppard said, shrugging as if he'd intended to pet the thing from the very beginning and hadn't been against the whole idea when Talon had suggested it.

"Maybe it hadn't been a purr," Rodney said. "Maybe that was the noise it makes before an alien pops out of its stomach and devours its prey."

"Maybe, but you'll have to see it to believe it. This thing is cute."

He made a slightly pained face.

"Does that mean you want me to go with you tomorrow when you go looking for it again?"

"Not unless we build some kind of bridge over that river," Sheppard said. "Neither of you swim well enough that we'd risk losing you in that current."

"Well, that's a relief."

Mitchell smiled, and shook her head, finishing her coffee.

"I'm going to go take a look around and then get some sleep. I suggest you guys do the same."

"I'll walk with you," Carson said, standing up.

She nodded, and the two of them headed down the tunnel that led outside, carefully avoiding any of those who were camped out on the floor. Behind them they could hear McKay asking Sheppard if they were going to build a bridge.


	9. 09

Even though she was one of the last to go to bed the night before, Melony was one of the first to wake up. She and Carson had taken their blankets off to the side a little and had fallen asleep cuddled together. More because of the desire to be close to each other than for any need for warmth, because the cavern and the tunnel that led to the ravine were both out of the rain and not too chilled. When she woke, she was still wrapped in his arms, with her own hand under his shirt and resting lightly on his bare stomach.

Which made it difficult for her to get up without waking him, even though she tried. His grip on her tightened when she moved beside him and he rolled closer to her, one hand sliding under her shirt and caressing her in a fashion that definitely would have led elsewhere if they'd been in quarters on Atlantis – but couldn't lead anywhere in the circumstances they were in just then.

She wasn't above holding still for just a moment, though, and enjoying the touch, before she gently moved his hand – moving her own from his bare skin in the process. And that woke him up a little more.

"Hmmm?"

She could see his eyes open, even in the very dim light given off from the string of bulbs that had been stretched along the tunnel, and her hand went out to touch his cheek, her fingers lightly brushing the soft facial hair.

"I need to get up…"

"Already?"

She nodded, and felt him cuddle her a little closer. While it was nice, it didn't help her get up and going – and she really had a lot to do that day.

She wriggled free, and brushed a gentle kiss against his lips – which made him open his eyes again – and then very reluctantly slid out of their blankets.

"Go back to sleep, Carson. Just because I'm up early doesn't mean you have to be."

Had it not been for the fact that he'd gone to bed just as late as she had, and was really tired still, he might have argued. As it was, he nodded, and almost instantly went back to sleep. Mitchell waited with him long enough to be sure he was asleep, and then got up and went off in search of a cup of coffee.

OOOOOOOO

She wasn't the first one up. To her surprise, Rodney McKay was in the main cavern, looking slightly rumpled – as if he'd only recently woken up himself – and holding a cup of freshly brewed coffee in his hand as he ran a check of one of the diagnostic machines that were going to be installed that day.

"Did you sleep last night?" Mitchell asked as she walked over to the coffee pot that was sitting on yet another empty crate turned upside down.

The good thing about having McKay there – aside from the fact that he was a genius – was that of all the people on Atlantis, he was probably the only one that matched her when it came to the need for coffee. Which meant that a coffee pot had been the first thing he'd brought with him and the first thing that had been plugged in once the power had been strung and the lights had been tuned on.

He looked over when she spoke up. Surprising neither of them, he hadn't heard her come into the room. Not only was she normally quiet on her feet, but he'd been involved in what he'd been doing.

"For a few hours," he answered. "But there's a lot I need to do today, and I thought I'd get a jump on it before everyone woke up and got in my way."

Typical.

Mitchell smiled, because it was also one of the reasons she was up early. Because there wouldn't be any interruptions for at least another hour or so.

"What's the schedule for today?" She asked him, coming over and sitting in the chair next to the one he was in. One of only three that they'd brought over.

"Diagnostic tools will be installed today," McKay told her. "They've been in mothballs on Atlantis – aside from this one, which is one that we took from one of the Ancient's labs in the lower levels. I'll show you how to use it, but it's pretty easy."

Mitchell nodded; it didn't look all that complicated. She might not be the genius he was – and who was, really? – but she could figure it out.

"Good. So what's left once they go up?"

McKay shrugged, looking around. Really, the cavern looked far more like a giant lab than he'd ever really expected it to, and he'd only been there two days.

"A table or two for equipment, and then you need to decide whether you want to put a bridge across that river you found – for that matter, you need to decide if you want us to try to figure out where that water goes and if you want us to lay piping to bring it closer so you might be able to use it."

"I'll do that today," she told him, taking a sip of coffee. It was good, and she noticed it was made from their first batch of the new beans they'd discovered. "As soon as Major Sheppard is up and we get a few more people moving around, I'm going to take a group of men down the tunnel, find out where it ends, and then send up a marker so Sheppard can find me in the Jumper and save me the walk back."

"And if you find more than just some of these Mok things?"

She shrugged.

"I doubt anything too sinister lives around the Moks. If they're at all like bears like Talon says they are, then they can be riled when they are upset, and as large as this thing was, I wouldn't want to mess with it – and I doubt anything else would, either."

"And if the one last night was abnormally nice?" He asked.

She smiled, obviously not worried about that.

"Then I hope they don't run as fast as I do, or climb trees."

He shook his head, unable to understand how she could face some new creature so nonchalantly. He hated new things – unless it was mechanical, of course, and then only because he liked to take them apart and see what made them work before putting them back together better than it had been before.

"Let's hope."

"They're pretty big and bulky – and Talon says they're not dangerous. I'll have to take his word for it until I find out otherwise."

"Good luck," he told her. "If you need me – for something other than rounding up Moks – then I'll be here."

She nodded, and stood up, still holding her coffee cup. And to his surprise, she put her hand on his shoulder.

"You're doing a great job, Rodney. Thanks."

Without waiting for a response, she squeezed his shoulder and left, heading back down the lava tube towards the ravine – and presumably some clean clothes.

McKay watched her go, unable to hide the smile on his face and wishing that there had been a million people there to hear what she'd just said.


	10. 10

Mitchell had just finished eating a quick breakfast of bread and cheese (they'd run out of MREs a couple of weeks ago and were now relying almost completely on the foodstuffs that they'd traded for) when Sheppard made an appearance. He looked sleepy and rumpled – and she knew she wasn't parade ground perfect just then, either – and he was yawning more than speaking for the first few minutes he was with her, nursing a cup of coffee while they discussed the Mok and the rest of their agenda for that day.

There wasn't much discussion since they'd already made these plans the night before, but both of them knew that it never hurt to double and triple check, since that was the best way to avoid confusion.

"Give me a couple hours, at least," she told him, finishing her own coffee. "Then start looking for the marker."

He nodded, still yawning. That would give him more than enough time to finish waking up.

"Who are you going to take with you?"

She knew he meant who was going to make the swim with her and walk the rest of the tunnel – reminding her that no matter that she was the most powerful system lord ever, he still wanted her to have some backup going into a strange situation. Which was fine with her, of course.

"Sanders."

Pascal Sanders was a Marine corporal who was a solid young man with a baby face and a serious manner to belay it. At 19 he was the youngest person on Atlantis – as far as members of the expedition went, anyways – and Melony liked him. He was fair-haired with hazel eyes, and his friends had long ago christened him 'Duck' for reasons Mitchell had yet to find out, since she hadn't had much chance to get to know everyone on the base. More importantly, though, Duck was a good swimmer, and a sure shot. Both of which were requirements for going with her that morning.

"Good choice."

"Most of mine are."

He smiled at that, but didn't say anything, and Mitchell stood up.

"I'm going to get going. When we get across the water, I'm going to send the others back – since we probably won't need them there, and there's no sense in leaving them blind while we have our look around."

"What if you're wrong about that tunnel leading out?"

"I'm not wrong. That Mok isn't a cave dweller, which means he had to come from somewhere. I'd rather have your men where I can use them if I need them."

"And if you run into something bigger than a Mok?"

She shrugged.

"That's what we're taking guns for."

True enough.

"We'll start off in about an hour," John told her. "Maybe we'll find out where you come out before you actually get there."

"See if you can find any source of running water, too," she told him, handing him her coffee cup. "I'd like to find where that water in that tunnel is going."

"Yes, Ma'am."

He gave her a half-hearted salute, and Mitchell smiled and went off to find her Marines.

OOOOOOOOOO

"You're sure that thing isn't dangerous?" Sanders asked her as he dried off an hour or so later. The two of them had just finished swimming the river – with harnesses still attached, thank you very much. Just because it wasn't a difficult swim, it didn't mean Mitchell was going to get cocky and forget about safety.

The end of the ropes that the other Marines had were tied off on their side, with belaying pins pounded into the floor of the tunnel. This was a last minute idea Talon had had – just in case they did get chased back down the tunnel. They'd have to swim back, but the harnesses would be attached to the ropes, which were in turn attached to the belaying pins and should support them while they swam. It was better than nothing, Talon had said, and Melony had agreed.

"It didn't eat us last night," she told him as she dressed. "And it definitely could have."

"Maybe it wasn't hungry…"

It wasn't a question, though, and it wasn't a complaint. Sanders was a Marine, and as such wasn't afraid of anything. At least, that was how he acted – an attitude Mitchell liked. He strapped on his holster and picked up her P-90, handing it to her as Melony strapped on the holster that carried her Beretta and her zat.

"It's cute. You'll see."

He didn't snort, but she had a feeling he wanted to. She grinned, and waved at the guys on the other side.

"Go tell Major Sheppard to head out."

They nodded, and shined their lights on Mitchell and Sanders once more, and then turned and headed off, while Melony and Duck turned and headed down the tunnel.

"Watch where you step, Corporal," Mitchell said as they started down. "Mok crap piles are just as big as cow pies."

OOOOOOOO

"She left already?"

McKay nodded, not looking up from the components he was attaching to a mainframe.

"She left with a few guys about an hour ago."

Carson sighed.

"She didn't tell me she was leaving."

"Were you sleeping?"

Well, yeah, he had been. But she could have woken him up, right? Except that he knew she had once, and he'd fallen asleep again almost immediately. He sighed, again, but decided that it was dumb of him to expect her to come and tell him good-bye every time she left the room he was in – or the area – and moping about it wasn't going to make it any better. He ignored McKay's question, and asked one of his own.

"Is there anything you need help with?"

"You can help Zalinka run inlays."

Beckett nodded, and walked over to the other grouping of technicians. He wanted to make himself as useful as possible – although he still wished he had been allowed to go with Melony and her group.


	11. 11

They didn't speak much as they walked. Not because either of them were anti-social – although corporals don't usually strike up conversations with colonels just to keep occupied on a walk; especially a colonel with the reputation Mitchell had – but because they were both listening for any sound that might indicate they were getting close to the Mok, or something else that might be even more sinister. It's hard to hear anything over chatter.

Breaking the silence a little while later, though, Mitchell looked at her watch to gauge how long they'd been walking.

"Somewhere around here was where we first found the Mok," she said.

Sanders nodded, and she saw his grip tighten on his P-90, although he still looked fairly calm in the light of her flashlight.

Almost right on cue, they came to the pile of dung that she and Sheppard had found the night before, sitting in the middle of the tunnel. They came to a stop beside it, and Mitchell shined her flashlight on it, and then looked around for more, which might indicate the presence of more than one of the creatures. But she didn't see any more, and in the silence of the tunnel, she didn't hear the telltale rustling that had heralded the arrival of the Mok the night before.

_It could be outside…_

True. Which was the next order of business then; to see if they could find an exit.

"Let's go," she murmured, moving into a lead position, her P-90 not exactly raised, but in a position that it could come up in an instant if she needed it.

OOOOOOOOO

Several people noted the arrival of the four members of the security team that had gone with Colonel Mitchell. Sheppard had been watching McKay do whatever it was he was doing, trying to stay out of the way, but at the same time trying to figure out what on Earth Mitchell was going to need a little metal box that looked almost like a toaster – without any slots for bread – for. He didn't want to ask – mainly because it annoyed him when McKay answered any question, since he always sounded smug and condescending – so he was trying to decide what it did without help. And just didn't have a clue.

Then he saw the four emerging from the tunnel, and looked at his watch. Mitchell had been gone about an hour and forty-five minutes – which meant that she and Duck should be somewhere around the place where they'd found the Mok the night before. He got up, and walked over to meet them.

"Colonel Mitchell and Corporal Sanders were last seen heading down the lava tube, Sir."

Sheppard nodded, and looked over his shoulder when Carson came up to stand beside him, listening in. Sheppard could see the worry in his expression even though he was trying to hide it, and he felt a little sorry for the guy, since he knew what he felt for Mitchell, and knew that what she was planning to do scared him. Not the Mok thing, but the Wraith hunting. It made Sheppard worried, too, and he wasn't sleeping with her, even.

"Did she give you any orders?"

"Just to tell you to go looking for her whenever you're ready."

He was ready. Sheppard nodded, and turned to Beckett.

"Want to come?"

It would be safe enough in the Jumper that he was pretty sure Mitchell wouldn't care – although they hadn't discussed who'd be going with him.

"Aye. Thank you."

He nodded, and turned to the men once more.

"You left the ropes where she and Sanders can swim back if they absolutely have to?"

"Yes, Sir. With crampons pounded into the floor attached to belaying pins."

"Good. Go get something to eat and then you guys take over for the guys guarding the ravine entrance."

"Aye, aye, Sir."

Sheppard turned to Carson once more.

"Let's get a lunch packed."

"I'm not hungry."

"Colonel Mitchell and Corporal Sanders might be by the time we find them."

"Oh."

Carson nodded; abashed that he hadn't thought of that, but Sheppard only smiled.

"Let's go."

It would take them at least half an hour to get provisioned and then get to the Jumper, and who knew how long to find them – although if Mitchell managed to make it outside, she'd put up a beacon that they could find in the Jumper. As long as the lava flow wasn't blocking the signal, like it blocked every other signal and sensor.

OOOOOOOO

"I love being right…"

Sanders couldn't help but grin, even though he was just a little nervous.

The two of them had walked only another ten minutes or so before they'd found that the tunnel was steadily getting brighter – or at least, less dark. Then they'd turned a winding curve and had found – literally – a light at the end of the tunnel. At the entrance of the tube were several fresh piles of dung that looked like the pile back in the tunnel – which made them assume there was a Mok around. Or maybe more than one. Moks?

_Mok_, Talon supplied. _There is no plural_

Like Yak?

_Yup_

Which was a creature _he'd _never heard of until he'd blended with Melony – along with several other Earth-only creatures.

They looked out the entrance (or exit, depending on how you looked at it) and both of them shook their heads in amazement.

They were in a valley of some sort, overgrown with trees and brush and so much green it almost made their eyes water after being inside in the dark for so long. There were several trees right beside the entrance to the tube, which suited Mitchell just fine, since that would make it that much easier to hide the entrance. To their left was an opening in the trees, the only place that was big enough and cleared of brush so they could move through easily and that was the direction Mitchell walked, her P-90 up, now, and Sanders right behind her looking around in every direction, including up.

There was a grunting noise ahead of them, which warned Mitchell, and when she went between the two trees, she found herself in a small clearing, and standing in front of a pair of Moks.

_Mok_

Whatever.

"Holy shit…"

She looked over her shoulder at Pascal, who had come up beside her, his eyes glued on the creatures in front of him, and the two creatures turned to look at them as well. In the daylight and out of the cavern, they were even more impressive, and Mitchell felt a slight thrill as the closest one moved towards her at a slow, ambling gait – once more reminding her of a cow.

"Colonel…"

"Easy, Corporal," she told him, lowering her gun and stretching her hand out. She wasn't sure it was the same one as the night before, but the grunts were hardly intimidating, and the creature didn't seem to be threatening her in any way.

"It's going to bite you…"

"I hope not…"

The Mok came up and rumbled to her, the sound deep and rolling, and Mitchell felt it vibrate through the ground – even through her boots. Then it stretched its nose out to her, and she rested her hand on the side of its neck, just in front of the water balloon like things that were hanging down from either side. Its fur was just as soft and velvety as it had been the night before, and the rumble changed immediately to a pleased sound – although it wasn't the same as the purr from last night.

"Can I touch it?"

Despite his misgivings, there was just something about the creature that made you want to see what it felt like, and Sanders wasn't immune to it.

"Go ahead." She said. "But if it bites your hand off, don't blame me."

He gave her a sidelong glance, wondering if she was teasing him or not, and then reached his hand out and touched the other side of the creature's neck, his hand sliding along the water balloon thing. It was incredibly soft, and malleable.

"What are these things?" He asked, listening as the rumbling changed tones once more, now slightly odd sounding.

"Beats me."

_Sperm sacks_

What?

_You heard me, hot shot_. Talon's 'voice was filled with mirth, and she knew he'd be giggling if he had control of her just then. _Tell him he's playing with its testicles_

Mitchell snorted, and Duck looked over at her.

"What?"

"Apparently, your hand is on its sperm sack…"

He jerked his hand back, frowning.

"_What_?"

"You were fondling him."


	12. 12

"Make it stop following me…"

Mitchell grinned and looked over at Duck, who had taken left flank and was checking the other side of the small clearing to see if there was anything interesting over there, while Mitchell had gone to the right to do the same. Behind him was the Mok he'd been… _petting_… and occasionally the creature would lower its head and give him a playful nudge.

_Or maybe he's asking him out on a date_

She couldn't hide the grin, although she did manage to control the snort of laughter. That was pretty much exactly what it looked like was happening. Whatever it was, the Mok was absolutely fascinated with Sanders, and hadn't strayed far away, even though the other one had settled for simply standing in the clearing, watching as Mitchell wandered around.

From all angles it looked bovine, like a great big stocky, furry cow without horns, until she got to the rear. There she discovered the creature didn't have a tail – only a tiny little stub of a thing that stuck up like a terrier's might. The velvety fur was pitch black on both of them and in the daylight she could see that it had a dorsal stripe of white that was barely visible, and even a little bit of a mane, like a horse. It was fairly ugly, but had to be one of the most charming creatures she'd ever seen. Especially with those big brown eyes and the purr.

"I think he's in love, Corporal."

Sanders scowled, looking back over his shoulder once more, and made a shooing motion with his free hand.

"Hey… go on…"

There was a soft rumble, but it obviously wasn't afraid of him _or_ his waving hand. He butted Duck once more, and the corporal sighed, exasperated.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"That's what you get for playing Captain Kirk with the local wildlife…"

"Colonel…"

She grinned. It was such a great story, and one that she'd probably never get to tell anyone. Sander would never live something like that down, and Melony knew just how much razzing a group of Marines – or any military men and women – could dish out. And she wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"He'll probably lose interest, Corporal," she told him. "Just ignore him."

Which was easier said than done, she knew. She was just glad it wasn't her, because she'd almost grabbed those sperm sacks, too, thinking that they were odd-looking and wondering what they were. She'd just been beaten to it by Sanders.

"Do you see any sign of the lava flow, Corporal?"

"No," he told her, looking out of the clearing as well as he could, and ignoring the Mok when it came up behind him and rested its nose against the small of his back. "This area seems to be overgrown with trees and brush and grass."

"Then we'll set up the marker here, and see if Sheppard can't come find us."

With the cooled lava not interfering with their equipment it shouldn't be that hard to get sensor readings of the area from the Jumper, and she was pretty sure Sheppard was already in the air, so it probably wouldn't take all that long for him to find them.

Sanders nodded, and brought out the beacon that Sheppard would track to find them, and set it in a tree – presumably so that the Mok couldn't accidentally step on it or something – and then turned it on, and walked over to where Mitchell was standing, beside the other Mok.

"We should have packed a lunch, huh?"

Melony nodded. They'd carried canteens, but neither of them thought of bringing anything to eat.

"Ah well… we won't starve, I suppose."

Duck stumbled as he was pushed from behind once more by the lovesick Mok, and turned and glared at it.

"We could always have Mok steak…"

Mitchell just grinned, and rested her hand on the Mok's neck – again avoiding the hanging sacks. She already had a lover, thank you very much, and didn't need the creature falling in love with her.

OOOOOOOO

A soft beeping drew Sheppard's attention from the ground below them to the control panel in front of him and at a purely mental command that he didn't even know he was giving, a display came up in front of him and Carson. It was a simple blinking light on the map – a map that was incomplete because of the reaction the sensors had with the lava flow – but one that they could follow.

"What is it?" Carson asked, looking over as well.

"Colonel Mitchell's beacon," Sheppard answered, changing the trajectory of the Jumper and gaining altitude. "Apparently they found a way out of the tube."

"Thank God."

John shrugged.

"We were pretty sure there was a way out," he told Beckett – again. "The Mok got in, they had to be able to get out again."

Well being told there was a possibility wasn't nearly as good as hearing that there was actually an exit, and Carson was just glad that he didn't have to worry about Melony being chased back own the tunnel and having to swim without someone there to hold the ropes for her.

"How far away are they?"

"About ten minutes."

He nodded, and watched as they skimmed along the lava flow, not following the flow itself anymore, but following the beacon.

OOOOOOOOOO

"There they are," Sanders said, pointing up about ten minutes later as a shadow fell across the small clearing.

Mitchell looked up as well, just in time to see the Jumper cross the clearing and fly off, obviously looking for a place to land. The clearing was too small for that.

OOOOOOO

"Was that one of those things?" Carson asked, looking behind him as if he could still see the big black creature that he'd thought he'd seen in the clearing they'd just crossed over.

"Yeah, I think so," John answered. "A Mok."

He didn't care what it was _called_, but he'd been pretty sure that had been _Melony_ standing beside it, and what was she thinking getting that close to it??

"Land."

"I'm looking for a spot."

"Can't you land back there in that spot?"

Sheppard shook his head.

"Only if you want me to land on her. And I think she'd probably have something to say about that. Just give me a minute, I'm looking for a spot."

Really, it wasn't such a bad thing that the area was so overgrown, because if he couldn't easily find a place to land, no one else would be able to, either. And that was good.


	13. 13

"I'm _freezing_."

"Why didn't you bring a jacket?"

Carson shrugged.

"We were in the Jumper. Why would I need one?"

"Because eventually we were going to have to get _out_ of it…"

"Yeah, well, I didn't think that far ahead…"

Obviously.

He wasn't completely without a jacket; he had on the one he normally wore. But it wasn't all that warm and it certainly wasn't waterproof, and in the drizzling rain, he was getting soaked as he and Sheppard hiked towards the clearing they'd flown over.

"You couldn't have landed closer?"

"I didn't know you didn't have a jacket or I could have tossed you out the back on the way over."

"Very funny."

Sheppard grinned. _He_ thought he was funny. He looked down at the portable transmitter/receiver that he was carrying, following the beacon from the marker that Mitchell had set.

"We're not too far, now."

"Good."

OOOOOOO

Sure enough, they broke through the clearing no more than ten minutes later, crashing through soaking wet brush and trees since they couldn't find a way around them. Scratched up and shivering, Carson was beginning to think he should have just stayed in the cavern and waited for Melony to return. Until, of course, he saw her. And then he was glad he hadn't.

She was still standing next to the odd-looking creature – that was positively huge – and he saw that her hand was resting on its neck, where she was apparently giving it a good scratching, because the creature was leaning against her, it's eyes closed blissfully. Right up until it smelled and heard Sheppard and Beckett, and then it only opened its eyes and looked at them curiously, probably to make sure they weren't a threat.

"Are you nuts?"

Mitchell smiled when she saw Carson break from the trees, and then frowned when she realized how wet he was. The frown deepened when he came over and stood by her, his eyes on the Mok she was touching.

"Nuts?"

"That thing could eat you."

She shook her head.

"He's sweet. And soft. And warm. And why aren't you wearing a jacket?"

"I am."

"You look cold."

She and Duck had both put on jackets, which they'd brought with them in anticipation of finding an exit to the outside. Neither of them wanted to get rained on if they could avoid it.

"It's not much of a jacket," he admitted.

She slid her hand around his waist and felt him shivering.

"You're going to catch a cold."

"I wasn't expecting the major to land us so far away…"

Carson threw an accusatory look over at Sheppard, who was walking over and unslinging his pack as he watched the Mok.

"We brought you lunch," John said. "But you should probably eat it on the Jumper where you can be warm – and we can dry out the doctor."

Mitchell nodded, and looked over at Sanders, who had been trying to check the area, and was having a great deal of difficulty due to the large Mok that was following him everywhere he went, butting him occasionally with his nose and making loud rumbling noises.

"Sanders! Come on, we're going to go get something to eat before we start looking around."

Duck nodded, and walked over to them, still being followed.

"Why is that thing acting like that?" Sheppard asked Mitchell, who snickered and grinned at Sanders. The Corporal gave her a look that plainly begged her not to tell, and since she hadn't been planning on it anyways, she simply shook her head.

"You know how these alien creatures are, Major. Probably just curious about him. Or maybe he's wearing some kind of cologne that's attracting it."

Talon snorted, but obviously no one heard that but Melony, who simply smiled broader.

"Is it going to follow us back to the Jumper?" Carson asked.

Mitchell shrugged.

"Beats me."

"What are those things hanging from its neck?"

She snickered again, but shrugged.

"Who knows?"

Well aware he was missing something – some kind of inside joke – Sheppard gave both Mitchell and Sanders a searching look, but neither of them said a word.

"The Jumper's about a twenty minute walk back that way…" he pointed the way they'd come.

"So far?"

John shrugged.

"We couldn't find a parking spot any closer, and all the handicapped ones were taken."

Mitchell smiled, and then looked at Carson.

"Speaking of handicapped… how's your ankle?"

"It's a little sore, but not so much that I can't handle it." He hadn't even been limping – a sure sign that it was almost as good as new.

"Good." She waved Sheppard ahead of her. "Lead on Major. I'm starving."

Carson waited beside Melony, who was watching the Mok as Sanders and Sheppard moved out of the clearing first, waiting to see if the lovesick one was going to follow Duck. When it saw him going, it gave a plaintive bleat, but it didn't make a move to follow – which was a relief to both of them. Melony grinned at the look on Sanders' face, and then she headed out of the clearing as well, one arm still around Carson's waist. Just to warm him up, of course. Not because she wanted to cuddle.

"So what did you guys find?" Sheppard asked, looking over his shoulder, but only for a moment. The ground was far too overgrown with brush and vines to not watch where he was going.

"Nothing yet," Mitchell said, stepping over a rotted tree trunk that had fallen over and was blocking the way. "We were waiting on you. How much trouble did you have finding the place?"

"Without the beacon I doubt I would have." Sheppard told her. "It's almost impossible to spot if you're not looking for it."

"Good."

Which would preserve the safety and secrecy of her little base.

"And even when we did spot you, there wasn't much room in that clearing for a landing. A good pilot could make it, certainly, but most would be just as prone to crashing."

Even better.

"When we're done eating, we'll take a look around on foot," Mitchell said. "Then we'll see what we can find from the air. I'd like a better idea of the layout of the land."


	14. 14

"Ham?"

"It's better than eating MRE packages…"

Duck shrugged, but went back to eating his sandwich and didn't complain again. It was true that most of their bartered foodstuffs were fairly nondescript items; lots of hams (because hams could be salted or smoked and would last a long time), potatoes, grains (which several of the Atlanteans were learning to make into bread) other vegetables; canned, bottled and dried. They were bland – although the cooks were learning some interesting seasoning tips from the Athosians – but it was better than going hungry.

The four of them were back on the Jumper, sitting in the cargo area where they could stretch out a bit more comfortably than if they were in the cockpit area, and Mitchell and Sanders were munching their way through the lunch that had been brought to them – which even included a couple canteens of coffee.

"Did you see anything else from above?" Melony asked Sheppard, who was sipping from one of the canteens.

"There are a few places that looked sort of clear off in the distance – further from this area of the flows, though – so I don't know if you want to go check them out. It's pretty hazy, what with the rain and all, so we didn't get a lot of sight-seeing done."

"I'd rather check the ground around here."

Sheppard nodded.

"We'll have to do it on foot, then."

Since that was pretty much what Melony and Sanders had expected, they both nodded, although Mitchell turned to Carson.

"Do you want to stay here?"

He was the one that had the sore ankle, after all, and with the shielding on the Jumper, it wasn't like they'd have to worry about something sneaking on board and eating him while they were gone.

"Do you think I'd be in the way if I came?"

Meaning, did she think he'd slow her down.

"How's the ankle?"

"A little sore…"

She frowned, but then nodded.

"I'd rather you stayed off it for a while. We won't be gone long."

He nodded, accepting her decision without complaint, because he knew that she had actually thought about it before deciding.

"I could look around this area…"

"Not alone," Sheppard said before Mitchell could.

"If I found anything I could call you…"

"Not alone," Melony agreed, firmly. "If you want to, you can use the ship's sensors and see what you can find in the area while we're gone, but I don't want you to leave the Jumper."

He sighed, but nodded again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Are you sure this is where you want to put the power couplings, Doctor McKay?"

McKay scowled, even though the person speaking to him was an attractive woman that he personally wouldn't have minded spending a little time getting to know better – except for the fact that she was _questioning_ him. He _hated_ it when people did that.

"If it _wasn't_ where I wanted to put it, then I wouldn't have set them there in the diagram, now, would I?"

He couldn't help that the response sounded annoyed and arrogant. It was just the way he was. Even with attractive women.

She shrugged, and handed him over the conduit, which had been attached to the power relays already and was ready to be connected to the main power supply that was coming from the thermal room. There were several safeguards, but this was the main one – and the one Rodney was most proud of. Short of the entire place blowing up – which was a possibility considering what Mitchell was planning on using it for – there was nothing that could destroy or interfere with her power source once he had it connected. And it would last forever – or as long as the thermal energies did, which amounted to basically the same thing, really.

"Are we ready?" McKay asked the room in general, and only rhetorically. He knew everything was ready, because he, himself, had checked it all out personally to make sure it was.

There were assorted nods all around, and he scowled when he noticed that no few of the technicians were holding their breath all of the sudden. Such small faith… He knew better, and after making sure that the last connector was attached, he hit the power button.

There was a soft whirring noise as the main power pack for the first set of diagnostic tools came online, and then a moment later and echoing one from the sensor monitor right next to it. Success.

Rodney couldn't help the pleased smile that came to his lips, even while he watched the others breath excited sighs of relief.

The secret lab was up and running – and a day earlier than he'd told Mitchell it would be done.

"Good job, people," he said, willing to give them a small amount of credit for the work they'd put in. After all, he couldn't have laid and strung all the wires himself. They pretty much ignored him, but he didn't even notice. He was already heading towards the lava tube that led out to the ravine, so he could radio Mitchell – or Sheppard, or whoever was out and about – and let them know what he'd accomplished.

OOOOOOO

"What's that smell?"

Sanders shrugged, looking over at Mitchell, who was just as perplexed as Sheppard.

"Smells like… _wet dog_…"

A lot of wet dogs, if it was that potent – and there weren't any dogs around.

The three of them had left the Jumper only ten minutes or so ago, and had walked straight into where the sun would be if there weren't so many low clouds dumping drizzle on them. They'd pushed their way past trees and brush, some fairly well spread out, but some so close together that it was a bit of a struggle. Now on the heavy humid air there was a definite unpleasant odor, and they'd all stopped, looking at each other and debating if they even wanted to know what it was.

"Your call," Sheppard told Mitchell, who frowned and shrugged.

"We might as well take a look, I suppose."

She pulled her Beretta out of her holster, though. Just because it smelled like wet _dog_, didn't mean it wasn't something big and nasty, and she definitely wanted a bit of firepower in her hands – especially since the trees and bushes in this area were so close together that their P-90s weren't much use.

The others followed her lead, and a moment later they made their way through yet another screen of vines, branches and all sorts of unnamed greenery – as well as more coffee bushes from the looks of it. Without warning, the sodden ground gave way beneath the three of them, and they went tumbling forward crashing through the last of the branches and into a pool of warm – almost too hot – water.

There were several startled bleats, and Melony came up out of the water sputtering, her Beretta still in her hand, and her free hand coming up to clear water out of her eyes. And found herself looking into the huge brown eyes of several Moks, who were just a surprised to see her as she was to see them.

Sheppard and Sanders both surfaced, shaking water out of their eyes and looking around as if to find out who had pushed them in, and they both froze as well. They were in a hot spring of some sort, and had apparently found the rest of the Mok herd, because at least 20 of the creatures were belly deep in the large pool they'd just fallen into, and all of them were staring at them.


	15. 15

"Well, shit…"

Mitchell pretty much felt the same way, but she knew it could have been a lot worse. After all, the water was warm, and they hadn't fallen into a pool filled with vipers or rabid lions or anything. The Mok were staring at them, but were hardly going to eat them. She ignored the Mok for a moment, and looked back the way they'd fallen. It was slippery with mud and steep and she was fairly certain they weren't going to be able to climb out of the pool that direction.

Which meant going through the group of Mok to get out the other end.

_At least they're not rabid lions_

True.

"Major?"

Sheppard had been checking things out the same way she had, and had obviously come to the same conclusion. Chest deep in a pool of hot – but not too hot, thank goodness – water, surrounded on three sides by big ole cow-like critters, it wasn't too hard to see your options, after all.

"Colonel?"

"Take point."

Sheppard scowled, and Melony ignored it, hiding her grin behind an innocent look. As he headed for the herd, Melony realized that not all of these Mok had the water balloon things hanging down from their necks – which made her assume these were the females.

"The ones without the things on their necks must be females," Duck said, obviously thinking the same thing she was.

"What makes you think that?" Sheppard asked, looking back over his shoulder, curiously. He'd just reached the first of the Mok, now, one of the males, and had put his hand on its damp neck to see if he could get it to move out of his way with a gentle shove. As heavy as the creatures were, it wasn't like they were going to be able to just move them aside if they didn't want to go.

Duck flushed – which had nothing to do with the heat of the water – and mumbled something about just guessing, and Mitchell snorted in amusement, but didn't say anything.

John gave her an odd look, and ran his hand along the protruding sack of the nearest Mok, admiring the velvety softness of the thing.

"What do you suppose this is?" He asked Mitchell, who had come up beside him with Sanders beside her. Both were grinning, now.

"I'd suggest you don't squeeze it or anything, Major," Melony told him.

"What?"

"Talon is telling me that it's a sperm sack…"

Sheppard jerked his hand away, much to the disappointment of the Mok he'd been fondling. He didn't need to hear more than that – and certainly didn't need an explanation of what she meant.

"A sperm sack?"

He looked down at his hand, and dipped it in the water, splashing as he tried to wash it off.

Mitchell snickered, although now that she thought of it, she didn't see any obvious sign of any other-

"Well… if that's its… um… _sperm sack_," Sanders asked. "Where's its –"

"How do you suppose they breed?" Sheppard asked, still washing his hand off.

"If you guys keep feeling them up like that, we'll probably find out," Mitchell said, not even trying to hide her amusement.

"Ask Talon," Sheppard said, moving his way through the herd as well as he could with the one he'd touched now following them as they waded.

Talon?

_No clue, Hot Shot_, Talon told her, chuckling as well. _That's why they went extinct. Several races tried captive breeding programs, but while they knew where the males kept their sperm, they couldn't find anything on the females – inside or out – to put it with_

Huh. That's odd.

She relayed that information to the others, who were interested of course, but since neither of them were xenobiologists, they really didn't have much chance of figuring out something that other – presumably more advanced – races hadn't. And really, standing in the water with the creatures wasn't the way any of them wanted to find out.

"Maybe you can keep an eye on them while you're here…" Duck said as Sheppard found himself in shallower water now as they were reaching the edge of the pool. Several of the Mok were following them, but when he pulled himself up onto the rocky ledge that formed the lip and turned around to reach down and take Mitchell's

90, none of them showed any interest in following him.

"Unless they put out an instruction video or something, chances are I'm not going to learn anything," Melony said, dragging herself up onto the ledge beside John. She had too much on her plate to start playing peeping Tom with the Mok, after all.

Sheppard smiled, and pulled Sanders up out of the water and then looked at Mitchell. Soaked as they were – and now that they were out of the warm water it was starting to get a little chilly – he was ready to call it a day, even though they hadn't been gone that long.

"Can we go home?"

She nodded.

"Sounds like a great idea to me."

She'd seen enough, and knew Talon had as well. The place was deserted enough that they weren't going to have to worry about someone surprising them when they least expected it, and as near as either of them could tell they weren't going to have to worry about the local wildlife going berserk on them and trying to eat them.

And they now knew the perfect place to soak if they wanted a hot bath.

The three of them started back toward the Jumper.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Do you know when Major Sheppard was planning on being back?"

The Marine who'd been guarding the single Jumper left in the ravine shrugged.

"He didn't say, Doctor McKay. He just said he'd see us soon."

Rodney scowled. It wasn't like they could raise them on the radio, either. Communications were blocked by whatever made up the walls of the lava flow – and the surrounding area. He was still planning on taking a sample back with him to Atlantis to see what it was and if it was something they could use somehow, but that was going to have to be a back burner project, even now that they'd pretty much finished Mitchell's secret base.

"Maybe we could take the Jumper up and try to raise them?" He asked.

The Marine shook his head.

"Only in an emergency. Is it an emergency?"

He wanted to say it was, but gloating about having finished your latest masterpiece was hardly something that could be counted as an emergency by anyone's standards – and certainly not from Sheppard's, McKay knew.

"No. I suppose not."

"They should be back before dark."

McKay scowled again.

"When they return, let them know I want to see them. Please."

"Sure thing."

He went back into the lava tube. No sense standing out in the drizzling rain, after all.


	16. 16

"What happened to you?"

They had reached the Jumper fairly quickly – it was a lot easier walking through jungle when you had a destination in mind and a reason to want to get there fast. And walking in soaked clothing that was hanging off you just wasn't fun.

Sheppard answered, even though Carson had been looking at Melony – obviously checking for injuries, and looking relieved when he didn't find any.

"Let's just say we figured out where the Moks bathe."

"The hard way," Duck added.

Beckett looked at Melony again, and she smiled.

"We fell into a hot spring, Carson. One filled with soaking Moks."

"You're not hurt?"

This time he was addressing all of them, and they all shook their heads.

"Just wet." Sheppard assured him, heading for the pilot's seat. "We're ready to head back to the cavern."

Which was fine with Beckett, because he was, too. He'd spent the better part of the last few hours doing nothing but worrying, and that wasn't fun. Especially alone and with nothing and no one to distract him.

Melony hung back in the cargo are with Carson while Duck went up and sat in the copilot's seat – carefully not touching anything as he did so.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Carson asked her.

"Nothing dangerous. Talon and I are both satisfied that this planet is deserted – at least this area of it is."

"So you're done exploring it?"

She nodded.

"We wanted – mainly – to make sure it wasn't inhabited, and I'd say after this many days of flying around and crawling all over it, we can assume we're not going to hurt anyone else by being here."

They felt the Jumper rising into the air – Sheppard wasn't wasting any time getting airborne – and Mitchell grinned. She was soaking wet, too, after all, and was more than ready to get back to the warm cavern and maybe even spend a little time in the thermal room – which was more than hot enough that it'd probably dry them off quickly.

"McKay said they were getting pretty close to being done with the wiring and everything as well," she said, taking Carson's hand as she walked over to sit down against the hull. "We should be ready to go soon."

She sounded so cheerful about this, but Carson felt yet another stab of anxiety at the news. That much closer to the time when she'd be going off to look for the Wraith – on her own. He didn't say anything, though, knowing that it was something he was going to have to learn to deal with. He'd known from the start of the relationship that she had one goal – and that was to avenge the murder of her friend. She would spend as much time with him as she could – and he knew she was keeping that promise – but she wouldn't let him or anyone else stop her.

And no one seemed to _want_ to. Look how eagerly they'd all jumped on the idea of helping her with her base. They were all certain that she had a chance to do what she was planning on doing – she'd destroyed the Goa'uld, after all, what were a few million Wraith? Or however many there were. He wasn't so certain, though. And that thought scared him.

He squeezed her hand, though, and tried to look a little less worried. Luckily, Melony didn't seem to notice, and the rest of the way back to the cavern, they were silent, simply being together and holding hands.

OOOOOOOO

"Doctor McKay wants you to find him, Colonel."

Mitchell nodded.

"Thanks."

"Wonder why?" Sheppard asked coming up beside her as they all started towards the entrance to the main lava tube.

"Maybe he found something interesting?" She hazarded.

"Maybe he discovered his lost humility?" Sheppard countered.

Mitchell grinned.

"When you're a genius like that, humility is a four letter word, Major."

"I can think of a couple of other four letters words that-"

She laughed, interrupting him with a hand on the arm.

"He's accomplished a lot more than I could have done on my own. I owe him."

"Yes, Ma'am." He told her with a wry expression on his face. "I'll try to remember that when I'm tripping over his ego."

She smiled again.

"You do that, Major. Let's go see what he wants."

They waited for Carson – who had been stopped by one of his medics who had a question for him – and then the three of them headed down the lava tube (Duck having been excused to go get dried off and changed).

OOOOOOOO

They could tell the difference immediately. Not only was the tunnel they were in even better lit than it had been, when they entered the main cavern it was filled with the soft hum of machinery working and lights on several computer terminals and diagnostic apparatuses blinking at odd intervals. The place actually looked like a lab, now, and not a cavern, and even Sheppard couldn't help but be impressed as they looked around.

"Wow…"

Mitchell and Carson were looking around, too. One entire side of the large cavern had been left bare – that was where she'd be parking the stolen Dart – if she could steal one – but the other side was filled with open tables and surfaces, as well as everything McKay had thought she'd need that they had to offer her without cutting Atlantis' supplies short. Including the Ancient diagnostic machine that he still had to show her how to use.

"Welcome to your own private, secret lab…"

All three of them turned and saw McKay walking towards them, grinning smugly.

"It looks great, Rodney," Melony said, still looking around. She could feel Talon was impressed with what he'd accomplished as well, and that was sending echoes through to her, making her even more satisfied with the progress.

He tried to look modest and failed.

"It's all set, Colonel. All you need now is something to study." He gestured towards the thermal room. "We set you up a sort of bedroom in the tube on the way to the thermal room. I didn't think you'd want to be _in_ it, but it'll never need to be heated, that's for sure. When you bring in your food supplies, there are shelving units just outside the cavern in the corridor that leads to the place Carson tried to break his leg. That's the coolest area, and the one most likely to keep your food from spoiling the longest."

"Good thinking."

Of _course_ it was good thinking, Rodney thought to himself. _Duh_. He didn't say it, though.

"So… we're ready to head back to Atlantis, then?" Sheppard asked.

McKay nodded.

"The others have been packing their tools and equipment since we finished. A quick lesson on the Ancient diagnostic device, and you'll be able to run this place by yourself. There are safeguards on all the power transfers, and backups everywhere." He hesitated. "Of course… if you want help in what you're doing… I'd be more than willing to stay…"

Which was saying a lot for _him_, and they all knew it.

She shook her head.

"I appreciate it, Rodney." She _did_, too. "But this is something that's probably better left to one person – for now at least. Besides, Weir and the others need you more than I will."

And she didn't want to get him killed.

"Let's go gather up the coffee pickers and get back to Atlantis. I could use a hot bath."

"_Another_ one?" Sheppard asked.

Melony grinned, and resisted the urge to mention Mok sperm sacks as McKay started issuing orders to the assembly crews to get them headed back to the Jumpers.


	17. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

"Welcome back."

The group of scientists and various medics and security personnel all acknowledged Weir and Ford with various degrees of greetings before they all dispersed to their quarters to get warm showers and naps, or to the cafeteria to get a much needed hot meal. Several large canvas sacks filled with the coffee berries that had been harvested were also carried to the cafeteria, where they'd be taken care of and processed and roasted into real looking coffee beans – which would be a welcomed addition to the dwindling supply of coffee.

Mitchell, Sheppard, McKay and Beckett didn't follow the others. They knew Weir would want to know how things had gone and they were the ones who would know better than anyone. Sure enough, before the doors had closed behind the last of them, she asked her first question.

"So? How was the weather?"

The fact that Mitchell and Sheppard were both wearing fairly wet clothing told her that it had probably still been raining, but you never knew.

"Drizzling," Melony answered.

"It must be coming down pretty hard for you to be so wet."

"They fell into a pool of hot water," Carson said.

"Figuratively, or actually?"

"Actually." Melony answered, running a hand through her still damp hair.

"And we found Moks." Sheppard added.

"What's a Mok?"

"A big cow looking thing with a taste for physical affection," Melony said, giving Sheppard a sidelong glance that was filled with amusement. Enough amusement that Weir and Ford both knew they were missing something. Ford figured he'd find out eventually, though. Mitchell couldn't keep a funny story to herself forever, after all.

"Is it something we might be looking at as a food source?"

_No_

Melony could feel Talon's annoyance immediately, and she found herself agreeing. Mok steak just didn't sound appealing – especially when they were apparently so rare. And not _medium rare_, either.

Obviously Sheppard felt the same distaste, because he shook his head.

"I don't think so. They're supposedly extinct everywhere else – Talon told Colonel Mitchell that, anyways. I'd feel like I was eating a dodo bird or something if we tried it…"

Weir looked at Mitchell, who nodded her agreement.

"It's not a good idea."

Besides, they didn't need to eat the Mok. They had already found several planets that were willing traders with them, and all of these were meat suppliers, too.

"How about your lab?" Weir asked, accepting the answer and changing to another subject. "Did you get it set up?"

Before Mitchell could answer, Rodney spoke up.

"We ran conductors through the place, originating from the Thermal room – which is definitely going to be a source of plenty of energy for Colonel Mitchell – and lit up the main cavern as well as parts of the lava tubes. The diagnostic tools and devices are all in place as is a –"

"Rodney…"

He scowled. No one ever listened to him – making him wonder why they even bothered to ask.

"_Yes_, Elizabeth. The lab is set up and ready to go."

Weir turned to Mitchell, her expression concerned and very serious. One that Carson used when he looked at Melony almost all the time.

"So it's a go?"

Melony nodded.

"I'm going to gather up the supplies that Kale and Arin sent me, take a day or so to get things in order here, and then I'll be heading out."

Since they already knew where she was going to start looking for the Wraith, none of them needed to ask – although now they were all giving her that worried look.

_You'd think we were going looking for life sucking aliens or something,_ Talon told his host.

Melony didn't smile, but his easy confidence was one of the reasons that she wasn't as scared as they seemed to be for her, and it definitely kept her from panicking most of the time.

"You sure you don't want company?" Sheppard asked – again.

She shook her head.

"You're needed here, Major." Just like the others were, too. Besides, the plan was dangerous, and there was no way she'd risk someone else unless it was absolutely necessary.

He scowled, but he didn't argue. For one thing; she was right, and for another; he'd already had this conversation with her.

"Well… you'd probably better go get dried off and into clean clothes," Weir said – to Melony and to the others. "I'd like a full report on the new lab, though, if you don't mind?"

"I'm sure Doctor McKay would love to give you one," Sheppard said, giving Rodney a pat on the back as he headed for the door and his quarters. A shower sounded great just then.

"What?" McKay frowned, and realized that he'd pretty much been caught by that one. Who else would give the report, after all? He was the one that had done most of the supervising, really. "Yes, of course I will."

Damn.

"After you get rested up and have a hot meal," Weir said.

Rodney smiled.

"I _knew_ there was something I liked about you, Elizabeth."

She smiled as well, and they turned and headed for the door as well, leaving Melony and Carson standing alone in the Jumper bay. Melony turned to him, bringing her hand up to rest lightly on his arm.

"Are you going to go eat?"

"Whatever you're going to do."

He was only going to have another day with her before she left him, after all, and he wasn't going to spend any of it away from her if she wasn't going to make him.

"A shower, then."

He nodded, thinking that she'd like a chance to get warmed up before eating. And maybe he'd go to the cafeteria while she was showering and get them something to eat so they could spend a little time-

"Together," Melony clarified, squeezing his arm with a somewhat naughty smile. One Carson echoed as he realized that she had meant that all along.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

He would worry about tomorrow later, and enjoy today while he could.

**The End.**

_So! The End. Everything's in place, now. Mitchell is ready for the Wraith - as much as she's going to be able to be, anyways. Let me know what you thought. Sorry this one seemed to be put on the back burner so much, it always seems to happen that way, doesn't it?_


End file.
